Electric-arc lamp



(No Model.)

J. E. GILES.

ELECTRIC ARC LAMP.

No. 442,617. Patented Dec 16, 1890.

LII.

UNrTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN E. GILES, OF IIAZLETON, PENNSYLVANIA.

ELECTRIC-ARC LAM P.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 442,617, dated December16, 1890.

Application filed August 21 1889. Serial No. 321,494:- (No model.)

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, JOHN E. GILES, a citizen of the United States,residing at Hazleton, in the county of Luzerne and State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inElectric-Arc Lamps; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear,and exact description of the invention, such as will enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters andfigures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of thisspecification.

This invention relates to are lamps adapted particularly for use inseries in a circuit of constant potential. Arc lamps have been andarenow used in such circuits in multiple are successfully; but when placedin series and without the aid of incandescent lamps to steady the arcs,serious trouble has invariably resulted, such as rupture of the are,excessive noise, and an unpleasant and dangerous vibration ofcurrent-strength in the main system. from which the are system isderived. My invention is designed to overi come these difficulties, andembodies certain features which will be clearly set forthin thisspecification, and definitely indicated in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate my invention, Figure 1illustrates the system of construction followed in putting my inventioninto practice. Fig. 2 is a detail view of the wheel train andescapement.

A and A are metal plates, to which are secured the parts of the lamp.

a is a rack-bar, which carries the upper carbon.

a is the lower carbon.

A train of wheel-Work, mounted in a suitable frame B, is secured toplate A. The wheels I) b are normally locked against I action by a p.llet or detent b.

B is a rocking frame, carrying the main wheel and rack-pinion Z). Thisframe is pivoted to clock-frame B, as shown. Arms or extensions b I) aresecured to frame B, rearwardly of its pivotal point, on one of whichacts retractile spring the tension of which may be regulated by anadjusting-screw b.

The escapement-pallet is provided with a cooperating spring 2,andcarries a light pendulum 19 which co-operates with a knife-edge d,secured to the core of the shunt-magnet. The pallet is pivoted in amovable bearing b so that at certain times the pallet may be pushed outof engagement with the wheelwork and the carbon be permitted freely todescend.

b is an adjustable stop for controlling the length of arc, and issecured to the framework in the path of movement of B.

C is the main solenoid, and 0 its co-operating core. The latter is hungupon a hook c to the frame B.

E is a dash-pot for slowing the action of the core 0.

The main coil C is supported on a bracket carried by post A connectingthe upper and lower plates A A. The post is shown broken away to betterillustrate other parts of the lamp. The shunt-coil or solenoid D isprovided with a suspended core D, carrying the knife-edge (I, alreadyalluded to. This core is carried by a pivoted arm d, the free end of thelatter being hooked over a spring (1 provided with a regulating-nut (1It will be seen from this construction that the core D is frictionlessin its movements, and that the only mechanical resistance to be overcomeis the tension of the spring (P and the friction of the knife-edge.

f isthe positivebinding-post, and f abrush bearing on the rack-bar a.For convenience of explanation I have placed the cut-out device outsideof the lamp.

II is an insulating base provided with conducting-uprights h, supportinga shunt-solen oid II.

h is an iron core for the solenoid. On an extension 7r of the frame h issupported a magnet h insulated from the frame. Its core is provided withdepending limbs h. h is its armature.

f is a negative binding-post.

Before explaining the operation of my invention I will first explain thecauses of failure in the commercial form of lamp and how these causesare obviated in my lamp. The differential magnet contains inherentreaction qualities that render its use in a lamp on a circuit ofconstant potential praeticallyout of the questioinand even when the mainand shunt magnets are separated and have independent cores but aresuspended from the 5 same frame exactly the same effects follow.

They should be separated and suspended independently. The feed must beexceedingly line and of the most sensitive character. Feeding at longintervals, permissible in cir- Io euits of constantcurrent, cannot betolerated in this system. The feed must be effected without muchfriction or an unsuccessful lamp will result. 1 am aware that lamps havebeen constructed with an independent r5 shunt; but in such cases theshunt-core earries the entire feeding mechanism, thus introducingamostserious objection. Such lamps while in common use on constantcircuit systems never have been and cannot be used on circuits ofconstant potential. In my lamp the feed is controlled entirely by theresistance of the are, and the only function of the shunt-coil is tounlock a knife-edge and permit the upper carbon to feed. In shuntlampsas commonly constructed 1 find that the length of are is not constant.\Vhen the lamp is started in operation and the shunteoil is cold, a muchlarger proportion of the current will take that path than when the lampbecomes warm. So the lengths of are in two lamps-one out of doors andthe other in awarm room-willnot be the same. Such ditl'erences willcreate lack of uniformity in la in p-resistance, a great desideratu inin mixed 5 systems thus being unprovided for. I overcome this difficultyby making the shunt-coils in part or in whole of German-silver wire,which undergoes but little change of resistance with change oftemperature.

The operation is as follows: The current enters at f, passes throughf,holder 0, carbon a, conductor 3, coil 0, conductors t 5, magnet 7L2,conductor (3, post. f energizing O and attracting C; also energizing 7L2and 5 making contact between the armature and core of 7L2. On thepassage of current, B is drawn down, and since the pivot of wheel I)" isbeyond the pivot of frame 13, wheel will be raised, carrying with it thecarbon-holder a and springing the are. c is a small supplemental spring,and when the keeper of core C descends it comes into contact with thisspring, and should the current be stronger than normal this spring willbe pressed down by the 5 5 magnet. \Yhenthecarbonwastesaway,theare growslonger and the current reaches its normal strength. The spring will thenthrow core C up until a light contact is reached, at which place it willremain as long as a normal on rrent 6o flows, The slulnt-terminalconnects at postf,

the current flowing through 7, solenoid 1), e011- ductor S, cut-outsolenoid ll, conductor 0, pillar h, armature 717, core and limb ofmagnet 71?, where it meets the main current. The 6 5 strength of currenttlowin g through this shunt is controlled entirely by the resistance inthe main circuit resulting from an increase or (lecrease in the lengthof are. Should the are increase beyond the length for which the lamp isadjusted, the flow through the shunt will increase and core 1) will bedrawn down, releasing pendulum If from its contact with knife-edge (7,allowing the wheel-work to act under the weight of the rack-rod and.upper carbon. \Vith one or more vibrations of l)" the are is shortened,the current in l') is weakened, D'rises,and Zfisloeked with (Z.'lhisopcratiou is repeated at intervals of from one to five secon ds, makin g a practically-constant feed unatfected by the friction of any ofthe mechanical parts of the lamp. The length of are is adjusted entirelyby the spriugd a greater tension on this spring producing a longer are.Spring Zr is adjusted to permit the keeper core 0 to come into lightcontact with spring 0" when the lamp burns normally. Should the currentincrease beyond this the spring will permit a further deflection of arm13, thus increasing the length of are, and when the current returns tonormal, which it will do suddenly, to save breaking, the are arm 13 mustrise quickly. Spring 0 produces such action. Should the are break fromany cause, the action of spring b will cause B and C to rise andprojecting arm 1) to fall, bringing this arm into contact withprojecting arm of l), detaching the pallet from escape-wheel 1),allowing the carbon-holder to descend quickly, bringing the carbonpoints into contact, and re-establishing the main circuit through C. Onsuch reestablishment the arc is sprung, Zr recedes from b, and theescapement is in condition to feed the carbon when called upon, spring 2holding the escapement in proper relation.

'While this lamp has been constructed mainly with a viewlto use incircuits of constant potential, it can readily be adapted for use upon aconstant current circuit. For this purpose a hole is drilled in the coreof the cut-outsolenoid at 72, and in the rack-bar at a. \Vhen the lampis working in a circuit of constant potential, as hereinbeforedescribed, pins are fixed in both of these holes. The pin in a" willprevent the carbon points from coming into contact when the upper carbonhas been sufficiently consumed. When the pin rests on plate A the arewill be ruptured, ar1nature 7L7 will fall away from contact with thecore of 7L2, and the shunt will be ruptured. The pin in it prevents thecore of II from be ing held sufficiently high by the shunt-current tointerfere with the dropping away of the armature 71 when the are isruptured by reason of the exhaustion of the upper carbon. \Vhen the lampis used on a circuit of constant current, the pins at a and 7L areremoved, conductor 1: is removed from the limb of 7L2 and connected, asshown in dotted lines, to binding-posts f and a new conductor is ledfrom binding-post fto 7i. N ow, the current will flow, as beforeexplained, to solenoid C, thence direct to post f but should the arebreak/the strength of current flowing through the shunt will be largelyincreased and core 7t will be drawn up by the influence of II, causingthe core to strike armature 7L7 and bringing it in contact with the coreof 7L2. The main current will then flow direct from post f, overconductor 10 to h, thence byway of armature h and conductor 6 to post fthus cutting out the lamp and permitting the current to supply otherlamps of the system. \Vhen the carbon of a lamp has wasted as much ascan be allowed, the last tooth of rack a will have passed the pinion ofb and rod 60 will drop until the points of the carbons come intocontact, permitting other lamps of the circuit to be supplied.

Having thus described my inventiomwhat I claim as new, and desire tosecure byLetters Patent, is

1. In an arc lamp provided with a fixed feed-regulating-wheel train, adetent for the train, a shunt-coil for releasing the detent, one of thewheels of the train being mounted on a movable axis, and a main coil forlifting the movable wheel and springing the are.

2. In an arc lamp, the combination of a gravitative carbon-holder,wheel-Work controlled by the current for permitting feed, a detent forthe wheel-work, a pivoted framein which the detent is mounted, and meanscontrolled by a main-circuit magnet for rocking the detent-frame,unclutching the detent from thewheel-work, and connecting ordisconnecting the detent with the Wheel-work when an arc is sprung orbroken, respectively.

3. In an arc lamp, the combination of a gravitative carbon-holder, atrain of Wheel- Work, a scape-pallet controlling the rate of feed, ashunt-regulating coil, and a knife-edge detent carried by the core ofsaid coil and controlling the pallet, said core being elasticallysupported by a pivoted arm so as to be free of frictional resistance inthe coil, as and for the purpose described.

4. In an arc lamp, the combination, with a gravitative carbon-holder andmeans for controlling the feed and springing the are, of a removablestop-pin for arresting the down- Ward travel ot the carbon-holder andopening the circuit after the carbons have been consumed, \vherebythelamp may be adapted for use in constant-potential or constant-currentlighting systems by the simple insertion or removal of the pin.

5. In an arc lamp, the combination, with a gravitative carbon-holder andmeans for controlling the feed, of ashunt-regulating coil, a cut-out forthe shun t-circuit controlled by the main current, a magnet foroperating the cutout independently of the main current, and means forlooking or unlocking the active relation of the magnet and cut-out,whereby the lamp is adapted for use on constant-potential orconstant-current lighting systems.

6. In an arc lamp, the combination of a gravitative carl'mn-holder, arack on the carbon-holder, a fixed train of wheel-work for regulatingthe feed of the same, the axis ofthe Wheel engaging the rack beingmovable, a scape-pallet controlled by a regulating-coil forpermitting-the movement of the train, and a coil in the main circuit forlifting the engaging wheel.

'7. An are lamp provided with main and shunt regulating coils and acut-out controlled by a magnet in the main branch for completing theshunt or rupturing the same, accordingly as current flows or ceases inthe main branch.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN E. GILES.

\Vitnesses:

G. F. KISNER, J OHN I1. MOYER.

